Rev. John Battison

    Father John Battison is uniquely special to Christ Church. He was born and educated in England and as a member of the Church of England was confirmed by the Bishop of Barking in 1930.

    His six and a half years of WW2 service were spent as a fighter and bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force in which he served with distinction. In 1945 he entered the United States and gained national and international acclaim as a communications engineer.  He also spent several years consulting in many middle eastern countries and eventually retired as Director of Engineering of the OSU Telecommunications Department. He is the author of 15 books in the communications field and is well known as a continuing author.

    He has been a lay reader for most of his adult life in places as diverse as New Mexico and Beirut. On moving to Columbus in 1978 he joined Christ Church almost immediately after its conception, and once again became a lay reader. He was ordained as a deacon and later as a priest, and travels the 160 mile round-trip from Loudonville, Ohio, for services. For almost ten years he has held weekly services at the Loudonville Home for physically and mentally handicapped people in addition to being chairman of the advisory board of the Mohican Correctional Facility for young men who have substance abuse problems.

    He met his wife of 31 years, Dr. Sara, in Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland where they were married. They have four children and four grandchildren; incidentally Dr. Sara is an accomplished glider pilot.

Rev. Lynn Blackburn

    I was born into a Methodist family where church attendance was mandated by my father and carried out by my mother. I distinguished myself here by attending Sunday school for 11 years without missing a single week. With the changing of years came a changing of pastors at our church and with each change, a change in philosophy that became increasingly difficult to keep up with.

    After high school graduation I went away to school in Minneapolis and continued attending church regularly though now sampling several different churches. I did not find any of these substantive and after moving to Detroit to work for Delta Airlines, I stopped looking for a church altogether. Rather than being drafted into the Viet Nam era Army, I chose to enlist in the Air Force. Like everyone else, I attended church regularly in basic training.

    Upon my discharge from the Air Force I returned to my hometown of Columbus, Ohio and a disillusionment with religion began to grow inside of me. My wife, Alice, was raised an Episcopalian but became upset with the changes sweeping through that church beginning in 1977. Then she heard about Christ Church Anglican and after she attended services there, she encouraged me to come along. I am very thankful to my wife and Christ Church for being there for me.

    Thanks to the friendship and mentoring of our parish priest, Father Mike, I have not only learned more about Christianity than I thought possible but, more importantly, I have learned about; faith, hope and charity – things you cannot learn from books. The time that I spent away from church being ended by my finding Christ Church has inspired to help others who are searching for a church with substance. Because my life has been graced with Father Mike’s presence, Christ Church and the Anglican faith, I cannot just selfishly sit back and enjoy this. I must continue Christ’s work in any way that I can.

    My quest to give back for what has been generously given to me led me to a new plateau on August 11^th, 2007, when I was ordained into the Sacred Order of Deacons. From here I will continue to search, seeking to spread Christ’s words and teachings.